Chapter 39: The Relief
In the Ocalen Plane, within the Beast God Continent, in the imperial garden of the Snow Lion Empire's capital, Lionheart City.
On the flat green grass, Linley sat cross-legged in meditation, with Bebe by his side. Both Linley and Bebe, at the very least, possessed divine domains, allowing them to easily distort the light within their area, making them invisible to the maids and guards in the distant parts of the imperial garden.
A full day had passed since arriving in Lionheart City. Throughout this day, Linley had continuously spread his divine sense, searching with all his might.
Linley opened his eyes.
"Boss, found anything?" Bebe asked quickly.
Linley shook his head slightly. "No. The entire capital, Lionheart City, has a population of nearly ten million. Except for some youths and young beasts that I didn't check, I've examined every other living creature. But none of them have a spatial ring hidden inside their bodies." Brodie had arrived over thirty years ago.
So even if he had hidden a spatial ring, it couldn't be inside the body of some youth.
"This is really hard to find," Bebe grumbled with a frown. "The other eight Paragons have long ordered their subordinate Highgods to turn this Lionheart City upside down in their search. But after all this time, there's still no result. With that many people, they've probably searched the entire city thoroughly by now."
Linley nodded slightly.
"Boss, we've already searched all the soil and deep seas of the Ocalen Plane. This plane is just a material plane, and very few people have spatial rings. The eight Paragons long ago had their subordinates check everyone who wears a spatial ring," Bebe snorted in dissatisfaction. "It seems that Brodie really did do it that way."
There was no other possibility.
Only one possibility remained — the Red Diamond Crystal was stored in a spatial ring, which was then placed inside the body of some living creature.
Unfortunately, the population of the Ocalen Plane was enormous — eight hundred billion people, and that was just humans. When you added elves, goblins, and other races, along with magical beasts on land, in the air, and even in the deep seas, the numbers were staggering. In terms of quantity, magical beasts outnumbered humans.
With Linley's powerful soul, even when being careful not to harm the souls of those he examined, it took him a full day to check nearly ten million people.
His speed alone matched that of hundreds or even thousands of ordinary Highgods.
Checking nearly ten million people cost Linley a day.
How long would it take to check eight hundred billion people? Not to mention the even greater number of magical beasts.
It was an astronomical number!
This was why over ten thousand Highgods, plus eight Paragons, plus Linley and Bebe, had spent months without finding the Red Diamond Crystal. If it were a plane like the Yulan Continent, this group could have searched it all in ten days or half a month.
"That bastard Brodie chose this Ocalen Plane on purpose," Bebe snorted.
"Be patient. If we can't find it, no one else can either," Linley said, keeping his divine sense covering the entire plane at all times. "Once they find it, I'll notice immediately."
"Yeah," Bebe said, puzzled. "Boss, what do you think Brodie meant by leaving that message for the Radiant Goddess to pass to us? Just the three words 'Lionheart City'? What's the meaning? Boss, I have a feeling... the place where the Red Diamond Crystal is hidden should be related to that message."
Linley frowned. "Brodie shouldn't be bored enough to leave that message just to mess with us. The three words 'Lionheart City' must hide some secret, and that secret will point to the hiding place of the Red Diamond Crystal. But what exactly does 'Lionheart City' mean?"
Many experts, including Linley, had assumed that the Red Diamond Crystal was hidden in Lionheart City after seeing those three words.
But after checking, they found that wasn't the case.
"Bebe, let's go to the library of the magic and martial arts academy in Lionheart City. Let's look up information about Lionheart City. Maybe we'll find something," Linley said, standing up.
"Right, if Lionheart City is tied to some secret, maybe those records have something," Bebe said, delighted.
Linley and Bebe moved, vanishing from the imperial garden.
At the same time, in a luxurious mansion in Lionheart City, Clementine and his subordinates had already taken up residence.
"Sir, we've searched all of Lionheart City. There's not a single person or magical beast with a spatial ring inside their body, let alone the Red Diamond Crystal," a silver-haired young man reported, bowing. The search speed of hundreds of Highgods was only comparable to Linley working alone.
"You may leave," Clementine said indifferently.
"Yes." The silver-haired young man respectfully withdrew, leaving Clementine alone in the courtyard.
Linley wasn't the only one thinking. Clementine was also pondering. "The paper only had the three words 'Lionheart City,' nothing else. What do those three words alone mean?" Clementine's eyes flickered, and he immediately used the power of a Sovereign of Light!
His powerful divine sense instantly spread out, crossing the Beast God Continent, traversing the oceans, until it covered the Misty Continent.
"Do you know what the three words 'Lionheart City' on that paper really mean?" Clementine transmitted mentally.
Far away in the Radiant Temple on the Misty Continent, the Radiant Goddess's heart trembled. She quickly replied, "Sir, I'm not entirely sure of the true meaning of those three words on the paper."
"How many Lionheart Cities are there on this continent?" Clementine asked again.
"Only the one in the Snow Lion Empire on the Beast God Continent," the Radiant Goddess said with absolute certainty.
"Just one?" Clementine was truly puzzled. If there were other Lionheart Cities, he could have searched elsewhere. But now, how was he supposed to interpret those three words?
"When Brodie gave you that paper, did he say anything? Tell me everything he said in detail," Clementine demanded.
"Brodie descended to the Ocalen Plane over thirty years ago, accompanied by his wife. He came to my Radiant Sacred Island. Although we were both Demigods, he easily defeated me. He stayed with me for a while. When he left, he said he would give me a gift. He said that if a large number of gods descended to the Ocalen Plane searching for some treasure, I should give that paper to the strongest one. He said that after the strongest one obtained the treasure, I would be rewarded for it."
The Radiant Goddess was also helpless.
She had thought that handing over the paper would earn her praise, even a reward.
But who would have guessed that Clementine not only gave no reward but didn't even give her a good look.
In fact, even Brodie himself hadn't expected that the Red Diamond Crystal would attract so many powerful beings to descend, including eight Paragons and Linley, who was even stronger than a Paragon! With so many experts, even if she handed over the paper, others would surely notice.
If no one else had noticed, Clementine might have been overjoyed and rewarded the Radiant Goddess.
"When the strongest one obtains the treasure, you will be rewarded for it?" Clementine frowned.
From this statement, Clementine deduced — the Red Diamond Crystal should indeed be in the Ocalen Plane.
"Whoosh." Clementine withdrew his divine sense from the Misty Continent and immediately sent a mental order. "Marquis Winter, come here."
Marquis Winter was the owner of this mansion. When Clementine and his group arrived, they merely showed the highest-level token of the Radiant Temple, and Marquis Winter immediately became extremely respectful.
"Sir." An old man with silver-white hair, combed to a shine, and blue eyes hurried in and bowed respectfully.
"Come with me to tour Lionheart City," Clementine ordered. "Take me to places with special significance in Lionheart City."
"Yes, sir. I know every special relic and building in Lionheart City," Marquis Winter said, unaware of Clementine's true identity, thinking he was just a high-ranking member of the Radiant Temple. But even a high-ranking temple official deserved his respect.
Each expert had their own approach. Linley chose to go to the library to look up information about Lionheart City, while Clementine had someone take him to see some special places in the city. Although his divine sense could cover the entire city, without someone to explain, even if he found an ancient preserved stone, he wouldn't know its special meaning.
Under Marquis Winter's guidance, Clementine learned many historical anecdotes about Lionheart City.
Now, Marquis Winter led Clementine to a historical archive. On the walls of the exhibition hall hung massive reliefs. The reliefs were almost as tall as the walls themselves. The spacious hall had only a sparse scattering of dozens of people.
"Sir, look," Marquis Winter said, pointing to a relief ahead. "The nineteen figures carved here are Emperor Wina, the founding emperor of our Snow Lion Empire, and his eighteen most loyal knights. The weakest of the eighteen knights reached the ninth rank, while Emperor Wina himself was a Saint-level expert."
Clementine merely nodded slightly.
Ninth rank? Saint-level? To Clementine, who stood at the pinnacle of the divine, there was no difference.
"Sir, look at this relief," Marquis Winter guided, pointing to the next massive relief. It depicted a huge, horned lion-type magical beast. On the relief, a large wound was carved into the beast's lower abdomen, and a human figure was emerging from the wound, clutching something in his hand.
The relief froze that moment in time.
"Oh, interesting?" Clementine smiled upon seeing it.
"Sir, this relief tells the story of the most dangerous battle of Emperor Wina, the founding emperor of our empire — the battle that made him famous!" Marquis Winter quickly explained. "And this battle took place on the original site of Lionheart City. To commemorate that battle, Emperor Wina established the capital here and named it Lionheart City. That's the origin of Lionheart City."
"The origin of Lionheart City?" Clementine's eyes lit up. "Tell me in detail!"
Marquis Winter had never seen this high-ranking temple official so excited. He quickly continued, "At that time, Emperor Wina had just stepped into the Saint-level. But he encountered a Saint-level magical beast, the Silver-Horned Snow Lion. Back then, this place was just wilderness. Emperor Wina fought a fierce battle with the Silver-Horned Snow Lion here! At the time, Emperor Wina was only a newly advanced Saint-level. But a Saint-level magical beast is usually comparable to a late-stage Saint-level human expert."
Clementine nodded slightly.
"Emperor Wina was at a complete disadvantage and was about to die. But at the critical moment, on the brink of life and death, he took a desperate gamble. He charged straight into the Silver-Horned Snow Lion's mouth and entered its stomach. We're not sure what happened inside. All we know is that Emperor Wina burst out of the Silver-Horned Snow Lion's stomach, and in his hand, he held part of its heart. Clearly, the Silver-Horned Snow Lion's heart was shattered... and of course, the beast died." Marquis Winter explained in detail. "After that battle, Emperor Wina's strength greatly increased, and he became a top-tier Saint-level expert on the Beast God Continent."
Clementine's eyes flickered with an inexplicable light.
"Lionheart City... no wonder it's called Lionheart City." A faint smile appeared on Clementine's face. He murmured to himself, "Bursting out of the Silver-Horned Snow Lion's stomach, holding its heart in his hand..."
"Let's go back," Clementine said, maintaining his composure.
"Go back?" Marquis Winter was taken aback.
Clementine ignored him, acting as if nothing had happened, and returned to Marquis Winter's mansion. Just one hour after returning, Clementine quietly slipped out of Lionheart City!